


Modus operandi

by sova, theonetruenorth



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, Embedded Images, Fanart, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Maryse is not a total bitch, hurt!Magnus, protective!Alec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 05:42:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8274863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sova/pseuds/sova, https://archiveofourown.org/users/theonetruenorth/pseuds/theonetruenorth
Summary: “Why?” Maryse asked and though her tone was quiet, Magnus wasn’t fooled into thinking it’s anything less than an order to answer.He still decided to annoy her, just because he could.“Why what?” he asked, pulling the blanket tighter around his shoulders after he shivered. Magnus hated feeling cold.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Modus operandi](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13973586) by [Batty_Blue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Batty_Blue/pseuds/Batty_Blue)



> This is a little something I wrote for [brizzbee's](http://brizzbee.tumblr.com/) birthday. Thankfully, she doesn’t mind getting angst as a gift ;) 
> 
> You are the best beta an author could ask for and I am so immensely grateful that you always seem to have time for me, my late night rants and brainstorming. You always steer me in the right direction when I get stuck and you keep me from making stupid and/or insensitive mistakes. I hope your birthday is as awesome as you are and thank you so much for being there for me <3
> 
> The beautiful fanart was made specifically for the fic by [geeky-sova](http://geeky-sova.tumblr.com/) :)

Magnus wasn’t really surprised when he heard the door to the Institute infirmary quietly creak open not long after he had been left alone.

He stood up a little straighter, with his back to the door and steeled himself for the inevitable confrontation. He had been looking through the window for some time, staring at the nasty weather outside and wishing he had enough energy left to portal back home. The night was cold and gloomy and the rain was pelting against the glass in a rapid rhythm. The windows weren’t airtight, so the wind raging outside made the infirmary drafty and chilly, causing Magnus to shiver from time to time, with both cold and exhaustion.

“What do you want, Maryse?” Magnus asked, not bothering to turn and look. He didn’t need to see to know it was her; he had been expecting to hear the angry click of her heels for quite some time now. He was less than pleased to be cornered like this, having no escape route. All of his instincts – both of demonic origin and those honed by years of experience of a long life – screamed at him to get away.

She was a shadowhunter and he was weak, exhausted and for the time being, stuck in her territory. She was also the mother of his boyfriend and they had a long and painful history and right then Magnus didn’t feel confident enough to face her. He didn’t even have his usual armor of the perfect image, as his makeup was gone and his clothes were beyond saving. Magnus was wearing Jace’s spare sweatpants and very little else, save for the thick bandages around his torso and the scratchy infirmary blanket he had wrapped around himself.

“Why?” Maryse asked and though her tone was quiet, Magnus wasn’t fooled into thinking it’s anything less than an order to answer.

He still decided to annoy her, just because he could.

“Why what?” he asked, pulling the blanket tighter around his shoulders after he shivered. Magnus hated feeling cold.

“I’m not in the mood for word games, warlock.”

“Well, neither am I, shadowhunter,” Magnus said the last word with as much venom as he could muster. He finally turned to Maryse, twisting slightly to look over his shoulder and immediately regretted it when his chest exploded with stinging pain. “And if I remember correctly, it was _me_ who ended up nearly dead tonight. So between the two of us, I think I actually have an excuse to be in a shitty mood, don’t you think?”

He could see Maryse’s jaw working, as if she was physically biting back words, but much to Magnus’ surprise, she didn’t fight him this time.

“Tell me,” she asked again, this time her voice resembling a cool neutrality, “why did you save him?”

Magnus honestly wasn’t sure what he was supposed to tell her. So far she had refused to see past her own clouded judgment and layers upon layers of prejudice and hate. He didn’t know if he had any strength left to break through her bigotry. He didn’t know if he even wanted to.

But he had to try, for Alec.

“I don’t know why it still comes as a surprise to you, Maryse, but I love your son.” Magnus didn’t allow himself the eye roll that he really wanted to do when he saw her flinch slightly at the word ‘love’. “You think I had some big internal debate about stepping in front of him to shield him from harm. That I weighed pros and cons of saving his life. I didn’t. It was an instinct. But, if I actually had to choose, I still wouldn’t do anything differently.”

Magnus thought back to the start of the patrol that he joined and how quickly things got out of hand when their group was ambushed by Preta demons, courtesy of Valentine. It wasn’t really a hardship to remember the thrill of fighting back to back with Alec, keeping one eye on his boyfriend and the other on Isabelle. But there were too many and Alec was busy shooting the demons further back the alley that they were herded into. When one of the Petra charged at Alec and was about to impale the archer with its massive horns, Magnus stepped in front of him.

Magnus didn’t remember much after that. There was pain and shouting and he thought it was Isabelle who killed the rest of the demons. He could vaguely recall the hot flashes of pain spreading through him in sync with heartbeat and the panicked, but still gentle, hands of his boyfriend.

He woke up later with Catarina hovering over him and he found comfort in the sight of her, knowing that she pulled yet one more miracle and saved his life. Alec, his poor and scared Alec, tore him a new one for being stupid enough to almost get himself killed.

Magnus shut him up with a kiss.

“You have loved many in your lifetime. Often at the same time.”

Maryse’s voice brought Magnus back to reality and he shook off the memories in favor of looking at the woman.

“It’s 2016, Maryse. Your attempts at slut-shaming are really behind time.” Magnus huffed. “But you’re right. I’ve been with people before. Not as many as you think - what I had with most couldn’t be really called love.”

Magnus looked more tired than ever, acutely feeling all the centuries weighing him down.

“But those few, they will stay with me forever. I have loved them. I have mourned them. Such is the fate of an immortal, one that you can’t even begin to understand. Each and every one of them were dear to my heart. But truly?” Magnus sighed. “I don’t think I would have stepped in front of almost certain death for them.”

And it was almost certain death, as Catarina informed him. It took all that she had and the borrowed power from Alec to make sure he survived. Not only was the wound deep, the bodies of the Petra were covered with a poisonous slime that spread through the victim’s system alarmingly fast. Magnus might have been out of the woods, thanks to his friend, but he was going to feel the effect of that injury for a long time. His aching chest and stomach were proof enough, the soreness spreading through his muscles like fire with the slightest movement.

“Why?” Maryse asked once more. “Why is he so special to you?”

“There is really something wrong with your motherly instincts if you need me to answer that question.”

“I know why I love my son,” Maryse said coolly and it was Magnus’ turn to startle. He didn’t think the woman was even capable of expressing any kind of emotion that wasn’t anger or disappointment. “I need to–” she hesitated, “I need to know that you won’t hurt him.”

Magnus only stared at her, for the moment completely lost for words. His eyes were almost comically wide and he realized that he probably looked quite stupid, frozen in his surprise.

“Maryse,” Magnus started, his words slow and weirdly gentle, “I almost gave my life for him today. Hurting Alexander is the furthest thing from my mind.”

Maryse opened her mouth to say something else, but Alec chose that particular moment to enter the infirmary. He froze mid-step, spotting his mother in the room. His eyes shifted from her to Magnus, who still stood by the window, pale and shivering and wearing an indescribable expression. Alec’s gaze narrowed as he looked back at Maryse.

“Mother,” Alec said slowly, his tone apprehensive, “what are you doing here?”

“I was just leaving.” She avoided the question completely and, with a sigh, turned around towards the door. “Warlock Bane would be more comfortable in his own surroundings, I think. But he’s in no shape for the subway. Take the cab. The Institute will cover the bill.”

She left before Alec had a chance to do anything but gape at her. Eventually he turned towards Magnus, who looked equally confused.

“Go after her,” Magnus said, his head moving jerkily to indicate the exit, “make sure she wasn’t replaced by a pod person.”

Alec wasn’t entirely sure what pea pods had anything to do with his mother, but he left anyways. He spotted Maryse halfway down the corridor and ran after her without even realizing he ordered his body to move.

“Mom!”

Maryse turned around, surprised to see him there.

“What kind of game are you playing?”

“Excuse me?” Maryse reeled back a little, as if the words were a physical slap he threw at her.

“What was it, back there?” Alec asked. “You hate Magnus. You never wanted anything to do with him. Now you’re telling me I should make sure he gets home safely and comfortably? Or maybe you just want to get rid of him as quickly as possible? What the hell is going on?”

“Language,” she chided, automatically.

“ _Mom_.”

Maryse only sighed, leaning with one shoulder against the corridor wall and Alec took a moment to look at her, to _really_ look at her. She looked tired, like she somehow aged beyond her years without him noticing. There were dark circles under her eyes, visible underneath her makeup and her shoulders had a definite slump to them. She looked smaller than him. Physically, she _was_ smaller, but she had enough presence and self-confidence that it always made her seem larger than life.

Alec didn’t remember her ever looking so exhausted.

“I just,” she started, her gaze slipping up to the ceiling for a second before shifting back to look Alec in the eye, “I just want you to be happy. It’s all I ever wanted.”

She kept throwing him curveballs and Alec was switching between anger and confusion so fast he might have gotten a whiplash.

“I am happy, mom,” he said, cautiously, “Magnus makes me happy.”

“I know,” she sighed, “and that’s what worries me.” She didn’t look away when he gave her an angry, narrowed-eye look. “Your idea of happiness doesn’t even come close to what I imagined. I might not agree with it – and Raziel knows we can’t see eye to eye recently. But it’s your life. You’re an adult and I can’t hold your hand any longer.”

Alec was speechless.

“I know I am not your favorite person right now,” she continued and gave a small, self-depreciating laugh, “and I know we need to agree to disagree on many accounts. But Alec, I–”

She hesitated once more and Alec gave her time to figure it out. Part of his own silence was because he had never seen his mother fumbling for words. That was definitely _his_ modus operandi.

“I don’t want you to hate me.”

“Mom,” Alec whispered, finally brushing her arm, slowly and tentatively, as if he was testing her reaction to his touch, “I don’t hate you.”

“But you will. Just like Isabelle does.”

“No,” he protested, “if you really mean it, all those things you just said, I won’t.”

She nodded slowly and looked down at his hand still touching her, but she didn’t push it away.

“Go take the war– take Magnus home. If you’re going to stay the night,” she grimaced as if she tried very hard to avoid thinking about what might happen if it came to that, “just make sure you get in here for the morning briefing. And then we can talk.” She swallowed, hard. “If you want.”

“I would like that,” Alec said.

It wasn’t a perfect solution. They were both aware that there was too much bad blood between them now for everything to work out without difficulties. Maryse had some very strong opinions about what he should do and how he should act. Alec had some equally strong ideas about not taking her shit anymore. There was bound to be drama, fighting and shouting matches - they both knew that.

But, for what it was worth, Alec was willing to give it a try.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was a start.

**Author's Note:**

> Every fic in this series is first posted to my tumblr and I upload it to AO3 with a delay. If you want to read my stories as soon as I finish them, follow me there: theonetruenorth.tumblr.com
> 
> Beta-read by [simling](http://simling.tumblr.com/)


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